403rd Troop Carrier Group | 13th, 63rd, & 64th Troop Carrier Squadrons | Thirteenth Air Force | Disney

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403d Troop Carrier Group | 13th, 63rd, & 64th Troop Carrier Squadrons | Thirteenth Air Force

Constituted as 403d Troop Carrier Group on 7 Dec 1942 and activated on 12 Dec. Trained for overseas duty with C-47’s. Moved to the South Pacific, Jul-Sep 1943, and assigned to Thirteenth AF.

 

Transported men and supplies to forward areas in the Solomons and flew passenger and cargo routes to New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and New Caledonia. Moved personnel of Thirteenth AF units to the Southwest Pacific. Supported the New Guinea and Philippines campaigns by transporting men and cargo to combat areas, evacuating casualties, and landing or dropping supplies for guerrilla forces.

 

The group played a more direct role in the New Guinea campaign by flying supplies and reinforcements into the combat zone and evacuating casualties. The group moved forward to Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands in August 1944, then on to recently captured Biak in October 1944, bringing it closer to the front line.

 

Dropped paratroops at Laguna de Bay, Luzon, on 23 Feb 1945, to free civilian internees held by the Japanese. In May-June 1945 the group carried out more than fifteen sorties per day to support the troops advancing rapidly across Mindanao. Received a DUC for operations from Apr to Jun 1945 when it transported ammunition, food, and other supplies to Eighth Army forces in Mindanao and often landed on jungle airstrips to evacuate wounded personnel.

 

Moved to Leyte in Jun 1945 and remained in the Philippines after the war as part of Far East Air Forces. Ferried occupation troops to Japan, evacuated prisoners who had been liberated, and flew cargo and passenger routes to Japan and Australia. Inactivated in Manila on 15 Oct 1946.

 

SQUADRONS. 13th: 1943-1946; 63d: 1942-1946; 64th: 1942-1946; 65th: 1942-1946; 66th: 1942-1946.

 

STATIONS. Bowman Field, Ky, 12 Dec 1942; Alliance, Neb, 18 Dec 1942; Pope Field, NC, 3 May 1943; Baer Field, Ind, 20 Jun-c. 15 Jul 1943; Espiritu Santo, 15 Sep 1943; Los Negros, 30 Aug 1944; Biak, 4 Oct 1944; Leyte, 25 Jun 1945; Clark Field, Luzon, Jan 1946.

 

CAMPAIGNS. World War II: New Guinea; Northern Solomons; Bismarck Archipelago; Western Pacific; Leyte; Luzon; Southern Philippines.

 

13th Troop Carrier Squadron

 

Theater-made. Australian fully embroidered.

 

 

63th Troop Carrier Squadron

 

Theater-made. Australian embroidery on wool. Design by Walt Disney Studios.

 

 

 

64th Troop Carrier Squadron

 

EMBLEM. On a disc light blue, border equally divided light turquoise blue and golden orange, a caricatured stork in flight, tail, feet, legs, wings, neck, and head yellow, body in shape of transport aircraft orange, eyes black, beak orange, holding aloft a caricatured cherub proper, grasping a tommy” gun white, orange, and black in right hand, and a “pineapple” grenade in left hand, and wearing a white helmet and parachute held at end by beak of stork; white cloud indications in chief and in base. (Approved 16 Jun 1943.)

 

Theater-made. Australian embroidery on wool.

 

 

66th Troop Carrier Squadron

 

EMBLEM. Over and through a medium blue disc, a caricatured, golden orange street car, winged of the last, in flight toward dexter, over a white cloud formation in base, driven by a caricatured pilot wearing brown flight suit and red aviator’s helmet, at motorman’s post, and having a caricatured paratrooper hanging out of the window on the side, and another caricatured paratrooper attired, proper, standing on roof in midst of assorted boxes, freight, and bundles red, yellow, and green, and holding a brown gun in the left hand. (Approved 15 Dec 1944.)

 

Theater-made. Australian embroidery on wool. Design by Walt Disney Studios.

 

 

 

 

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